As someone involved in the non-profit world and having interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs over the past decade, I’m constantly amazed by the symbiotic relationship between the two.
In the non-profit space, one of the biggest tools for fundraising is events. Whether it’s a parlor meeting, a trip, a dinner, a breakfast, a bikeathon or something else, most non-profits rely on events to help raise their annual budget.
But it’s not just about the event. It’s about cultivating relationships with donors—think clients and customers—both new and old.
At the recent .ORG nonprofit expo, run by the Powwow team, I had the zechus to sit down with three people responsible for raising hundreds of millions of dollars for tzedakah: Zevi Bamberger of Chai Lifeline, Rabbi Aryeh Young of Our Place, and Yummy Schachter, who produces large-scale events for many organizations.
Our conversation offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what goes into making these events successful. You’ll see how every decision is analyzed through a sharp business lens.
I think you’ll walk away with a deeper appreciation for the work that goes on at the mosdos that do so much for klal Yisrael—and maybe even pick up a few ideas for yourself.
Enjoy!
—Nesanel
Nesanel Gantz: It’s a privilege to have the three of you on a panel. You are single-handedly responsible for helping klal Yisrael grow on a grand scale. Let’s start with a bit of background.
Aryeh Young: I grew up in Mercer Island, Washington. My mother is from Alaska. One of the advantages of growing up out of town was being part of a small community, which meant I was very involved in my local yeshivah high school. I took a lead role in many extracurricular activities and started planning events when I was about 14 or 15 years old.
After getting married and leaving kollel, I eventually transitioned into a career in chinuch. I was a high school and beis midrash rebbi for a decade. I always enjoyed connecting with my talmidim outside the classroom. I would create unique events as a way of building a more holistic kesher with them.
At a certain point, I was given the opportunity to fundraise professionally. I needed to augment my parnasah in chinuch, so instead of just giving shiur to teens in the mornings, I began doing administrative and development work in the afternoon for an organization called Our Place, which helps teens and young adults who are struggling. Thank G-d, I’ve had the privilege of helping grow that organization from two centers to 13.
When I started, we were a few hundred thousand dollars in debt. We had expenses of about $100,000 a month, with very few donors and no reliable revenue stream. I realized the only way to create immediate cash flow was through events people would want to attend. They didn’t need to be familiar with the organization or committed to the mission. If I could create a great experience, people would come and donate. And once they were there, I could begin to build real philanthropic relationships. We now run 20 to 25 events a year.
Nesanel Gantz: What does Our Place do?
Aryeh Young: Our Place is an organization that helps young people who are struggling with various at-risk behaviors. We are particularly focused on addiction and helping people build sustainable sobriety. We have two teen drop-in centers in Flatbush. We also have five young adult recovery clubhouses known as “The Living Room” in Monsey, Brooklyn, Lakewood, the Five Towns and Hollywood, Florida. Additionally, we operate a young adult sober-living community called “Our Village” with six residential homes in Monsey, including our first one for women that was recently opened.
Yummy Schachter: I’m also from out of town: Washington Heights. I never planned to end up in the non-profit space. My parents were very involved in the Jewish community, so I was exposed to a lot from a young age. They were constantly on the move—traveling to different communities, helping where they could—and we sometimes got to tag along.
I didn’t know it at the time, but we got the kind of exposure that teaches you how to listen, how to observe, how to problem-solve and how to understand what makes people and communities tick.
Nesanel Gantz: Yummy, your father is Rav Hershel Schachter, the rosh yeshivah of YU. You can’t be humble on stage.
Yummy Schachter: My siblings and I were in that world as quiet observers—flies on the wall—listening in on conversations about community needs, watching the inner workings and meeting many of the people responsible for making things happen. I often quote Malcolm Gladwell, who says you need 10,000 hours to become an expert in any field. I always say that my parents gave me that many hours before I was out of diapers. I’m grateful to them, because that early exposure is what led me into the work I do today.
As a teenager, I started organizing events as my way of giving back. I loved connecting people: one person had the resources, another had the vision. I wasn’t just making introductions, I was helping shape the ideas as well, offering creative input to bring things to life. Over time, I found myself helping build organizations from the ground up. I did it as a volunteer for years. Eventually, a major philanthropist in Toronto (where I live) sat me down and said, “This isn’t sustainable. You’re sacrificing time with your family and business. Either go all in or step away.” So I took the leap and made it my full-time job.
Nesanel Gantz: You come to a mosad and help them do what, exactly?
Yummy Schachter: A few different things. Some organizations come to me because they want a big event that’s unique and out of the box. Others need help rebranding, or they say, “We’ve been around for years doing great work, but nobody knows who we are or what we do.” Sometimes it means going back to the basics: clarifying their mission, defining their audience and building a compelling story. And sometimes, a mosad simply brings us in to execute a major event.
Nesanel Gantz: Zevi, let’s turn to you. Your work with Chai Lifeline is impressive.
Zevi Bamberger: I’m also from out of town, born and bred in London, England. I’ve always appreciated community work. I came to America for yeshivah, got married and lived in Israel for a couple of years. When I moved back to America, Chai Lifeline approached me to help with their local parlor meetings and dinners. I ended up staying on, and nine years later I now direct Bike4Chai, which is a major cycling fundraiser.
Nesanel Gantz: Do you participate in Bike4Chai yourself?
Zevi Bamberger: We’re not going to get into that. (Laughs.) I don’t bike. Yet!
Nesanel Gantz: You really would, but you can’t because you’re running it.
Zevi Bamberger: I’d like to, in theory. Baruch Hashem, Bike4Chai has raised over a $100 million since it started. We have an all-female sports event too, called Tour de Simcha. We also run marathons and galas throughout the country, which most people have heard of. I handle the logistics and put these events together to create the best possible experience for donors and maximize the profit for the organization.
Nesanel Gantz: Aryeh, we’re at an event with people in various stages of organizational life. They could be starting organizations, or they might have been running them for many years. Ten years ago, when you said “fundraising event” it meant maybe a Chinese auction or a dinner. Today, that has changed completely: trips to Europe, unique experiences, all kinds of things. Why do you think events are necessary, and how do organizations benefit from running them?
Aryeh Young: There are a few things every organization needs to keep in mind before deciding to run an event. The most important thing is: Do I have a business plan? Every event is really a micro-business. What I mean by that is you must decide on your goal before you start. Some organizations have a $5 million budget and have to raise their entire budget from events, so they become an absolute necessity. Other organizations might have a $5 million budget, but it’s covered by tuition payments or annual board donations, and the goal of the event might simply be to fund incremental growth or a specific new project. In that case, even a small bake sale raising $25,000 could be considered successful.
Once you’ve identified the goal, the business plan starts with an honest assessment: How am I creating profit? Almost every event has overhead unless you’re fortunate enough to have a sponsor who covers everything. For example, an organization might spend $50,000 on the venue and food, another sum on decor or to hire a party planner because there’s no in-house staff for that role. You also have to account for staff salaries, $5,000, $7,000 or $10,000 a month for each person’s time spent on the event. The question then becomes: “How am I covering those expenses plus generating meaningful profit in a way that makes it all worth it?”
To answer that honestly, an organization has to distinguish clearly between “new money” generated by the event and “existing money”—donations that likely would have come in anyway.
Nesanel Gantz: So if you’re doing an event just to collect the same donations you’d receive anyway, you’re not gaining anything. The real challenge is to attract new donors. It’s a balance.
Aryeh Young: We saw this clearly during COVID. A lot of organizations couldn’t hold their annual dinners, yet many donors still wrote the same $5,000 or $10,000 checks. Organizations realized they could save time, reduce costs and have their staff focus on other priorities while collecting essentially the same amount of money. Instead of receiving $200,000 gross and netting only $125,000 after overhead, they could collect the full $200,000 as net profit.
The real opportunity in a strategically planned event—aside from annual face-time with donors, which can be very important—is figuring out how the event itself can create new opportunities and strengthen the overall business model of the organization.
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